In the event of a collision of a vehicle, a secondary collision in which the driver bumps against the steering wheel occurs to cause a steering column to be moved axially forwardly with respect to the vehicle body. As means for causing axially forward movement, a dedicated energy absorbing apparatus may be disposed, or, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a configuration may be employed where a bracket itself suspending the steering column from the vehicle body is provided with an energy absorbing function.
The bracket is a lower bracket which is to be fixed to a front lower portion of the steering column. The lower bracket includes: a first plate portion which is to be fixed to the vehicle body; a second plate portion which is bent from the front edge of the first plate portion toward a lower portion of the vehicle body; a third plate portion which is bent from the lower edge of the second plate portion toward a rear upper portion of the vehicle body; and a fourth plate portion which is bent from the upper edge of the third plate portion toward the lower portion of the vehicle body. A lower portion of the steering column is fixed to the fourth plate portion.
The lower bracket is formed by bending a plate member by using a press die. In the lower bracket, a first bent portion is between the first plate portion and the second plate portion, a second bent portion is between the second plate portion and the third plate portion, and a third bent portion is between the third plate portion and the fourth plate portion. The first bent portion has an acute angle, and the second bent portion and the third bent portion have a right angle.
The steering column is placed in parallel to the traveling direction of the vehicle as viewed from the upper side, and, as viewed from the lateral side, inclinedly placed so that the steering wheel side is in the upper side. In order to allow the steering column to be moved in an axially forward direction by a secondary collision, the fourth plate portion must be moved in the axially forward direction of the steering column while maintaining its posture.
In order to realize such a movement, the angles of the first bent portion, the second bent portion, and the third bent portion must be increased from the respective angles which are formed by the press die.